China strongest but UK trails in 9th

CHINA has the most powerful military in the world with the US in second place and the UK trailing in ninth, a study has revealed.

But Britain’s Armed Forces still managed to finish ahead of Germany in the global top 10.

Beijing’s military rated 82 out of 100 in a study using multiple factors to measure the strongest nations.

UK troops came second only to Russia in terms of fitness levels, measured by how much gear they carry, with the US third and Australia coming in at fourth.

Canada rated lowest in fitness but researchers at website Military Direct said their forces were the best paid.

The website, which sells military equipment, used a number of factors to award points out of 10 in different categories for its Ultimate Military Strength Index, unveiled today.

They included budgets, number of inactive troops, air, sea and land resources, nuclear weapons and salary average. The study comes in the week the Government is revealing its controversial vision for defence, our biggest military overhaul since the Cold War.

Military Direct claims Russia has the most powerful land force, with 54,866 vehicles, but America has the biggest air force with 14,141 planes. China has the strongest navy with 406 ships.

Military Direct boss Ben Slater said: “The Ultimate Military Strength Index measures each country’s military based on a variety of factors.

“We wanted to answer once and for all which world military, at least on paper, is strongest. Which would win in a hypothetical fight.

“China is number one, scoring highly across all factors, but the US beat it in budgets and aerial capacities. “China has made significant strides in modernising over the last couple of decades and pushed to become the dominant naval force.”